The invention relates to an electric toaster with toasting time control by means of a timer and a bread carrier which is movable by means of a lifting device between a toasting position and a toast removal position.
Electric toasters which eject the bread upwardly are provided with vertically movable and vertically guided bread carriers which are lowered into the operating position by hand, thereby simultaneously switching on the heating current. After the toasting operation has ended, the bread carrier is released under the control of a timer and a return spring abruptly raises the toast from the bottom position to the top position. In this position, the toast can be taken out.
In order to reduce the noise which accompanies the movement of the bread and to prevent the bread from being ejected out of the toaster when the bread carrier is raised, it has already been provided that a bread carrier be provided with a damping device. Thus, a toaster is known (German Patent No. 20 14 024) in which the upward movement of the bread carrier is delayed by a flywheel. This additional damping device not only necessitates more individual parts for the lifting device but also unnecessarily increases the manufacturing costs.
A construction is also known in which the bread carrier is vertically movable by means of electric resistance wires which change length when heated (German Offenlegungsschrift No. 17 53 124). However, the necessary lifting movement of the bread carrier can only be achieved in this appliance by means of considerable gearing. The technical effort involved and the limited service life of the resistance wires, which may be subjected to very considerable mechanical stress particularly in the cold state, are major disadvantages of this toaster.